MH-242 Caural - Remembering TodayRemembering Today collects tracks recorded during the gap between Caural's 2001-2003 releases for Chocolate Industries and his relocation to New York. Originally from Chicago, Caural debuted in 2001 with the full-length, Initial Experiments In 3-D. He then joined the respected Chocolate Industries label, appeared on the compilation Urban Renewal Program, produced standout EPs in 2001 and 2003, and released his critial breakthrough full-length, Stars On My Ceiling in 2002. After moving to New York, he began work on a new album scheduled for release in late 2006. Remembering Today is both a companion piece to his earlier work and a link to his upcoming material. A series of snapshots from the life of an ever-evolving talent, it is the perfect set for Caural to both reintroduce himself to old listeners and court new in preparation for his next steps as an artist.

Last fall, sandwiched between live sets from Thavius Beck and part-time Musher Daedelus, I heard the man known as Caural drop some serious bombs. Funny enough, the song that brought the house down was a Legend of Zelda mash-up. Who’d have thunk that a Nintendo game from our pre-pubescent years would invoke such amped-up nostalgia. Of course it didn’t hurt that Caural had a wicked crunker of a break scuttling Link along. Don’t know Caural? Well he has tracks released by the likes of Ninja Tune, Chocolate Industries, Plug Research and Raw Fusion, which should give you an idea of what his sound comes out to be: sparse but thick, tight but meandering, all in a robotic swagger on the beats below and a melodic sway from the voices and atmospherics up top. Yes he can hold his own on an instrumental break, but the four songs on Mirrors that Caural enlists vocalists are the choice cuts. “Cold Hands” features harrowing singing from The One AM Radio and “Transition Suite” has a nice flow from Racecar who has the introspection of a mellow J-Live and is complemented nicely with well-placed violin string sounds. Paul Amitai’s quirky but smooth harmonies on “Cruel Fate of Spring” serve as reason alone to put this CD in your clock-radio for an alarm music, giving that attentive but relaxing feeling. Live instrumentations abound with shouldershankers galore, “Sending You Colors” is all things that those dorky Boards of Canada fans will shudder at. Overall, it’s just another aces joint from Mush. - Re:Up